Obvious
by Ryuuen Kurai
Summary: [BanKazuki] Pseudo-sequel to Foreshadowing


Standard disclaimers apply.

Warnings: OOC-ness, lack-of-descriptiveness, sloppy, unbeta-ed writing, a crude attempt at an intellectual conversation, blatant abuse of creative license. Please bear with me for a moment. I've been out of practice, so…

**OBVIOUS**

By: _Ryuuen_

"They're blue."

"What?"

"Your eyes…" A smile. "I never really noticed how blue they were before."

An indifferent shrug. A puff of smoke.

"They're blue, only slightly darker. In this light, they almost look violet."

"…"

"The color of the night sky, perhaps."

"…"

"Or that stuffed cow I once had as a child."

"Oi…"

"Or blueberries." A giggle. "I'm sure Ginji would love that idea. He loves blueberry cheesecake."

"Are you deliberately trying to piss me off?" A glare. "And since when is blueberry cheesecake considered a good cold remedy, anyway?"

A laugh. "Ginji would say so."

"Of course he would, if it would get you or Natsumi to stuff him with more sugar, never mind if he ends up in a coma afterwards."

"The same way you'd be willing to rush headlong into a potentially dangerous mission without your partner as long as it pays well, never mind if it gets you killed?"

"Well, you're here, aren't you? If everything screws itself up, it'd be nice to know that you would be dying with me."

"I never knew you to be romantic."

"Nah, just terribly fatalistic."

"But still…"

"…"

"Your eyes..."

"What is it with your obsession with my eyes tonight?"

A shrug. "Nothing. I never really had the chance to observe them until now, is all. I didn't really expect them to look so…"

"So…?"

An enigmatic smile. A quirked brow.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

An annoyed growl.

"Are you trying to start something, girly boy?"

A patronizing smile.

"Of course not, Ban-kun. I was merely sharing an observation." A thoughtful look. "I just find it strange, how something so dangerous, so powerful could seem so…"

"Normal?"

A nod. "Though Shido has always said your eyes are of the queerest shade of violet – _demon's eyes_, he had termed them once." An amused smile. "Of course, that was after he had been subjected to the power of the Evil Eye, so he may have been a little bit biased."

"Maybe." A sigh. "Look, Itomaki, just because we've been assigned on this case together, it doesn't mean we'd start swapping stories over afternoon tea or shopping for curtains together or whatever shit you do with your _friends _so please…"

A giggle.

"I don't see what the hell you could find so amusing."

"Curtains?"

A glare.

"I'm sorry, Ban-kun. It's just that you say the most interesting things at times without even meaning to."

"Shut up. Why don't you just leave me alone and go back to your much preferred daily routine of ignoring me, or something?"

"Well, someone once told me that the first step is awareness so…"

"The first step? To what? Getting on my nerves? Honestly, I'd think you'd know by now that it doesn't take much to accomplish that."

"Really?" Another smile. "Then what is?"

"Huh?"

"The first step to getting on your nerves?"

"I don't know…" A sidelong glance. "But having supposedly intelligent people asking me stupid questions on purpose usually does the trick."

A laugh. "Touché."

"…"

"Do you want know what I think, though?"

"No." A snort. "Not like that has ever stopped you from telling me before."

A smile. "You just don't like it when people state the obvious."

A puff of smoke. A shrug.

"It's an exercise in futility. If something's there, it's there. There would be neither a reason nor a need for anyone to say anything about it."

"But wouldn't putting something into words give it more meaning, make it more tangible, more… real?"

"Yes, in the same way that it could ruin that _something_ entirely. There are some things better left unspoken, unnamed, undefined. It's the only way those things could survive. Your '_friendship_' with Needle Boy, for example…"

"You're an extremely difficult person, did you know, Ban-kun?"

"And _you_'re too polite for your own good. Anyone else would've called me an insensitive prick."

"Well, maybe, it's because they aren't aware…"

"Of what?"

"Of your ability to say things you don't really mean like you mean them."

"Ch. What's this? Are you trying to psychoanalyze me now?"

A final puff, a discarded stub.

"No, more like I'm trying to understand you."

The flick of a lighter. A lit tip.

"Another exercise in futility."

"Big words. You seem to be fond of that phrase tonight."

"Well, what else would you call this pathetic attempt at a conversation we're having?" Another puff. "I don't know why the hell you even bother."

"Is it so hard to believe that I may be genuinely interested in figuring you out?"

"It hasn't been done before, it never will be. Only Ginji has come close but not close enough."

"That's because he has contented himself with knowing only the things about you that you allow him to know."

"…"

"Why don't you let me try?"

"To what?"

"To find out some of those things for myself."

"You know what, Itomaki? If I didn't know better, I'd say you were crushing on me."

"Your arrogance still never ceases to amaze me, Ban-kun. You know it's not like that."

"Isn't it?"

"…"

"Awareness is the first step, huh?"

"Yes, but…"

A sudden movement, slamming of hands against the wall.

An invasion of space, a hair's breadth in between. Nothing more.

"What do you think you're doing?"

A mischievous smile. Blue eyes intense, scrutinizing.

"Testing your theory."

A frown.

"Ban, if this is one of your…"

"Amber."

"What?"

"Your eyes…"

Warm breath mingling. Lips almost touching, _almost_.

"In this light, they may be called amber, not quite gold."

A strong hand tracing the curve of a cheek, too gentle to be real.

A gasp. The heat of a blush.

"And for some reason, in this light, they may even be called… _beautiful_."

A spark of something, flicker of violet against blue, for a moment.

"Ban-kun?"

A blink, and it's gone.

"But then, I've always thought you were too pretty for your own good."

Drawing away.

"It's time. We mustn't keep our client waiting."

Confusion, grasping for composure.

Silence.

A sigh.

"You should really stop doing that, you know, Ban-kun."

"Doing what?"

"Saying things you don't really mean like you mean them."

A careless shrug. A puff of smoke.

"Who says I don't mean them?"

A final puff, a discarded stub.

"You know what, Kazuki?"

A meeting of eyes, violet against amber.

"It seems that between the two of us, it is _you_ who doesn't appreciate people stating the obvious."

"Ban-kun, I don't…"

A puff of smoke. A shake of a head.

"Never mind, Itomaki. It doesn't matter. At least, not _yet._ Just concentrate on the job for now."

A smirk. A return to the familiar.

"After all, there's no way I'm splitting my pay with someone who does nothing but stand there and make googly eyes at me."

A blink, an exasperated sigh.

_You just wouldn't make it easy for me to understand you, would you, Ban-kun?_

A shake of a head. A resigned smile.

_Then again, I don't think that's so much of a bad thing._

"Ban-kun…"

"What?"

"Shido was right in a way."

"How so?"

"You're never the person one expects you to be."

The flick of a lighter. A lit tip.

"Well, I could be, if I wanted to. But then…" A puff of smoke. "Where's the fun in that?"

Ash falling. A swish of cloth.

"Are you coming, Itomaki?"

Footsteps against pavement. A shared smile.

Something unspoken, yet almost audible.

"Of course, Ban-kun. I would've thought that much was obvious."

The whisper… of a future possibility.

End.


End file.
